1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in a wind deflector employed in a sliding roof device for a vehicle so as to prevent noises caused by an air current and to prevent air flow from entering the vehicle interior when a slide roof member is retracted to an open position.
2. Description of Relevant Art
A sliding roof device is known wherein an opening is formed on a roof of a vehicle and is adapted to be closed by a slide roof member made of glass or the like. In such a sliding roof device, loud noises may be produced during the running of the vehicle with the sliding roof device in an open position, due to air flow into the interior of the vehicle and air suction from the interior of the vehicle, caused by fast air current flowing along the roof. To prevent such noise and air flow into the vehicle, a wind deflector is provided at the front edge of the opening for the purpose of deflecting streams of air upwardly, so that air suction from the interior of the vehicle and resulting noises may also be avoided.
In the conventional sliding roof device, the front edge of the opening is formed to be straight across the width thereof, regardless of the line of the upper edge of the vehicle windshield, and the wind deflector provided retractably with respect to the opening on the roof is formed to have a flat plate shape. The height of such a wind deflector projected out above the roof of the vehicle through the opening cannot be uniform over the entire length of the deflector due to the convex curvature of the roof surface, i.e., the roof is curved to be lower at the sides thereof and higher around the center thereof, while the upper edge of the deflector is formed straight over its entire length. Thus, the deflector does not provide an effective guiding action for the air current. Accordingly, when the air current deflects from the flat plate, undesirable noises may be produced, and air may flow into the vehicle interior. The conventional wind deflector construction thus fails to provide effective prevention of air current noises. Furthermore, it is not possible to obtain sufficient open space over the driver and passenger seats due to the straight front edge of the roof opening in the conventional structure, thus decreasing the feeling of openness or freedom to the persons in the front seats of the vehicle.
As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 of the accompanying drawings, if the wind deflector 6 is provided integrally with arms 7, 7, which are so arranged as to be retractable with respect to the opening 3, in the raised state shown in FIG. 10 an effective deflection can be obtained without any specific problems. However, in the lowered and retracted state with the opening 3 closed by the slide roof member 4 as shown in FIG. 11, a recessed portion 8 will be required for housing the deflector 6 at the front end of a slide roof frame 9 because of the greater height of the deflector. The recessed portion 8 protrudes toward the front part of the vehicle interior, and consequently reduces the head clearance on the under surface side of the roof, resulting in an undesirable feeling of confinement to the persons in the front seats of the vehicle.
The present invention effectively solves the foregoing problems attendant to conventional wind deflector constructions, and particularly those problems associated with arm-integral-type deflectors as described above.